Woman allegedly fired gun after man laughed at threat

LAKE STEVENS — A Lake Stevens-area woman began shooting a .45-caliber handgun toward a group of young men who were lighting fireworks outside her home early New Year’s Day after at least one of them laughed when she threatened violence, according to police reports.

The woman, 54, was arrested for investigation of four counts of first-degree assault. One of the bullets struck a neighbor, 24, in his left thigh.

The incident occurred just after midnight Tuesday in the 6400 block of 120th Drive NE, located northeast of Lake Stevens.

The woman told deputies with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office that she’d grown weary of problems in her neighborhood, including damage to her truck on the Fourth of July when fireworks were thrown or shot at her home.

She said the gunfire broke out Wednesday after she repeatedly confronted a group of young men from the neighborhood about their playing with fireworks to celebrate the new year.

“I’ll shoot the next one of you that lights off a firework,” she allegedly told them.

By his own admission, one of the men laughed at her, according to police reports.

That’s when she fired “in the general direction of the crowd,” the woman told deputies in a written statement.

“And with all the (expletive) that’s happened I didn’t really care at that point and with almost a full bottle of wine drank (sic) I didn’t care,” she reportedly wrote.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound. The woman was booked into the county jail in Everett where she was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail. No charges have been filed.